California defeats MMA in district play

California defeats MMA in district play

October 30th, 2012 in News

Top-seeded California hosted #8 seeded Missouri Military Academy (MMA) for round one of Class 3 District 6 football Thursday at Riley Field, where the Pintos, who led 43-0 after one quarter, went on to defeat the Colonels 71-0 in two quarters.

The decision to end the game at the half was made by the coaching staff of both teams.

"Obviously, MMA was out-classed," California Coach Marty Albertson said. "I hated to see those kids beat like that. I felt sorry for the kids."

Albertson went on to say he would like to see the districts played in a different format in the future. "Anytime you put the #1 seed against the #8 seed, it's most likely going to end up like this. I think it would be better if we did it the way the pros do it. Give the top two seeds a bye the first week, and let the rest of the teams play. That would be my recommendation to MSHSAA. This is the first year of doing districts this way, so hopefully they'll see there's a better way."

The Pintos scored six times in the first quarter. Garret Baquet had two touchdowns, a kickoff return for 85 yards, and a punt return for 42 yards. Anthony Price had a 14-yard TD, Jason Wolverton a 4-yard TD, Dylan Albertson a 15-yard TD, and Allan Burger a 3-yard TD. Efrain Torres was 5-5 on his PAT kicks, and Burger scored a two-point conversion.

California scored four times in the second quarter. Burger had a 5-yard touchdown and a 10-yard TD. Freshman Dylan Ratcliff had a 20-yard TD, and Ramiro Garcia had a 22-yard TD. Burke Brant scored a two-point conversion, and Aaron Cuevas was 2-3 on his PAT kicks (one was blocked).

California's Burger, Drew Norton and Jacob Johnson each had an interception.

The Pintos had 27 rushes for 244 yards. MMA had 14 carries for 2 yards and Jacob Priester completed 3 of 17 passes for 7 yards.

Garcia led California with five carries for 43 yards. Brant followed with four carries for 40 yards and Albertson had three carries for 36 yards.

Allan Burger led Pinto tackles with five.

California (10-0) will host the Chillicothe Hornets (3-7) at 7 p.m. today (Wednesday) at Riley Field for round two of Class 3 District 6 football.

"Obviously, Chillicothe is a good football team," Albertson said. "They're big up front. They had injuries at the start of the year, but they had three kids back last week. They have good ball carriers. It's going to be a physical ball game."

The cost to attend the district game is $5 per person. No passes or senior discounts will be honored. The parade of champions featuring the Pinto football players will begin at 5:30 p.m.

"Hope to see everyone come out to support us," Albertson said.

The winner will play the winner of the Centralia vs. Boonville game (also played today) for the district championship at 7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 5.